Las Vegas Raiders Insider Podcast on the Raiders' Future

Our latest episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast dives into the future of the Silver and Black with a special guest.

Oct 27, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce greets Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Jakobi Meyers (16) before the start of a game against the Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images / Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

HENDERSON, Nev. -- The Las Vegas Raiders are a franchise that is looking to the future.

A dismal 2-8 season has made it clear that things need to change drastically for the Silver and Black. Our Hondo Carpenter and Attorney Jonathan Schopp discuss Las Vegas and the league as a whole on this episode of the Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast:

Below is the full transcript from Antonio Pierce's Friday media availability:

Q: Any health updates on Andre James and the running backs?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, he'll [Andre James] practice today. [Jakorian] Bennett and [Nate] Hobbs will be out, and then Zamir [White] and [Alexander] Mattison will be doubtful." Q: Is there any hope for Jack Jones to play?

Coach Pierce: "He'll practice today."

Q: With Andre James practicing, do you think is there a scenario where, even if he's able to play, will he be back at center? Or how will that work?

Coach Pierce: "No, we'll stay with the same five."

Q: I know you mentioned earlier this week just the value having continuity, is that what you're trying to build with the offensive line by sticking with the same five?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, just continuity. Unless something drastic changes today, I don't see changing the lineup. They've been practicing well the last couple days together, and we'll keep it accordingly."

Q: When you're on a losing streak, are you looking for something to say?

Coach Pierce: "Work. Just work. Just got to work. Be consistent. Come to work every day. Continue to get better. The word I said last week was no different out of the bye week was improvement, looking for improvement. That's happening. Again, it's happening in practice, but obviously we’ve got to put it on paper come Sundays. But that's the word we're talking about. A lot of young players playing, more opportunities there. So, between improvement, opportunities and process, which is a word that nobody likes to talk about but it’s the truth and it’s where we are at right now. Just really building on those."

Q: How do you personally stay upbeat, happy, and keep leading these guys?

Coach Pierce: "Keep trucking ahead man, horse blinders on, look forward, can't look behind me, can't worry about the past. Trying to win a game this week against a divisional foe, somebody we know very well, feel comfortable with, and obviously we feel like we match up well. But we got to take care of the ball, penalties, and at the end of the day when we have opportunities in the red zone and on third down, we got to be better at situational football. So, those are things that we worked on this week, excited about where we're at. We'll see how it looks like today in the red zone. But just keep working."

Q: I think the Broncos have six players with at least three sacks this season. When you look at the production they're getting acrossthe board, what do they do well that's allowing them to have so much success?

Coach Pierce: "Good team defense. Who's the star player there? Doesn't really matter, right? They play team defense. Everybody's involved, everybody's active, everybody's doing their part. It's all coming to them. And that's a credit to their staff, really a credit to their players, really just buying in and really just all hands on deck. And a lot of its scheme, sometimes it's an individual player making a play. But I think they're doing a really good job with theirscheme, mixing guys up, and they're getting teamsin third downs that are more favorable for their coordinator to call these pressures."

Q: Last week, the offense was noticeably better. How much better are you expecting with just another week working together?

Coach Pierce: "Again, I'm going to go back to what we talked about, just continuity, chemistry, getting a feel for Scott Turner. I think Scott's been doing a really good job, really good presence, good calmness about him, constantly talking to the players and reminders throughout, especially at the quarterback position. Take what's there. First, second, read, 'Okay, cool.' Let's go ahead and get the check down. Obviously, don’t let a defensive player touch the ball in no way or no fashion. But just consistency and I think with having the same five O-lineman again for the first time in a long time, having those guys, the quarterbacks, and we’re pretty healthy on the offensive side of ball obviously outside of running backs, we feel good what we're doing operationally and what the plan is for Denver."

Q: Last year, this defense finished on a strong note and gave up the ninth fewest points in the league. It hasn't turned out that way this year. Do you have any explanation for that? And how much is the offensive struggles, especially the turnovers – I think you guys have given up 19 touchdowns off of those turnovers - how much of that contributed as well?

Coach Pierce: “Well, that same defense is not here, players, injuries. First and foremost, let's call a spade a spade. That's the truth. The other part is the opportunities for takeaways and turnovers, we've had those, right? There's been some balls that's bounced and tipped, and we were that close. And that's been our season so far, we've been that close. And I think it's just constantly just reminding some of these younger players that are stepping into these roles. I mean, we talk about O-line play, let's talk about at linebacker. There's been multiple guys playing next to Robert Spillane, right? Getting that comfortable. This week, multiple DBs are now playing in the backfield. So, chemistry, continuity, getting everybody up to the same page. And again, just what do we do well, right? Is it zone, is it man, is it pressure? And a lot of that does change with the personnel. So, I think each and every week is very fluid. It's evolving each and every week, each and every day to be honest with the way the season's gone. But yeah, is it disappointing? Yeah, I would say so, because everybody expected what we saw there at the end of the season. But 51 [Malcolm Koonce] is not out there, 94 [Christian Wilkins] is not out there, 1 [Marcus Epps] is not out there, 0 [Jakorian Bennett] is not out there. There's a lot of guys – 39 [Nate Hobbs] is not out there. We’re missing pieces and it's no excuse, but if you want to ask me directly, that's part of the problem."

Q: How much of the offensive struggles contribute to defensive struggles?

Coach Pierce: "Team struggles. I'm not going to put it on offense. Its team struggles to be honest because last week the offense was moving the ball, and they did a good job. And we needed some stops in the third quarter and in the fourth quarter defensively and we didn't do it, right? It was the one game where the offense gave us a chance to be competitive in that game throughout. So, really, it's the team overall. Some weeks on special teams we have blocked punts and other missed cues and things of that nature. So, it's really been a team effort of what's going on the last six weeks, and it's going to take a team effort to turn this around and get a win."

Q: With injuries you talk about next man up. In the backfield it's next man up, do you have a plan of how you want to see them operate or is it more hot hand? What do you want to do with the running backs?

Coach Pierce: "Well, if the two running backs are not able to go, [Ameer] Abdullah would be the starter, right? We'll go there. You got Dylan [Laube] there, and then we'll see what's happening with our practice squad player in Sincere [McCormick]. What would be the plan? The plan is to see who's productive and try to run plays that work for them. Those are three different backs that have not started this year for us but played. So, we’ve got to do what's best for them. But at the end of the day, it's not going to come down to the running backs winning this game. It's going to come down to the guys up front, us making plays on third down, situational football, taking care of the football and penalties."

Q: Not only are you depending on young players, but you're also depending on inexperienced players. So how much practice goesinto that mental preparation of making sure that it's not too big of a moment once they actually step onto the field?

Coach Pierce: "A lot. That's why between meeting times, which is two, two and a half hours a day before we go out to practice, 30–40-minute walk through. Walk through when we get on the field, walk through when we get off the field and more meetings. Can't do it enough to be honest. How do you get there? It's repetition, and that goes for all of us. It doesn't matter what level, what profession you're in, you need reps. And you can't speed up that count, we only got so many hours in a day that we can do that. And it's got to take a little bit on the player, a little onus on him to put in that effort and time when he leaves the building mentally. But physically, you've got to trust what we've been doing over this 11-week process of the season and that we get these guys reps in developmental. We're very competitive with our scout team, and we've seen them run full speed. Now you've got to go with the X's and O's and what we're trying to do with the scheme and apply that to the game."

Q: How much of it depends on captains like Robert Spillane and Maxx Crosby within the actual game to be there and be vocal?

Coach Pierce: "Oh, without a doubt. I mean it's always critical. I just mentioned that a little earlier, when you have Robert Spillane there, okay you plug in another linebacker, you feel good because you've got a guy that's played and he's playing at a high level and knows our defense and can fix the problem when we have an issue. Same thing with oursecondary. I'll use Tre'von [Moehrig] for example, when [Marcus] Epps went down, Tre'von had to pick up that role and be more vocal. And on the offensive side of the ball, it's all hands on deck because there's been so much going on over there. But I think we do have a good core group of guys that have played at a high level who are professionals that understand what we're trying to do, understand the culture that we're building and what we want to do from a scheme and schematic standpoint. When we've got a younger guy in there, they can only do so much. And again, I'm going to go to that player, whoever that X player is, he has to be ready and prepared to be a pro and come ready to do his job."

Q: Dylan Laube is a feisty guy and he's got a chip on hisshoulder because he knows he made the mistake. How exciting is it to see a kid who has that chip on his shoulder get another shot?

Coach Pierce: "Yeah, I've said this before, like I don't throw away young rookies. I prefer them not to play until later in the season, where we're at now, to allow them to get up to speed and understand how to practice, because certain things that show up in the game show up in practice. If a ball gets punched out, it probably happened in practice. So, just getting that ball security right for him. But the one thing you don't want to do with a young player is beat him up mentally because once you lose him, how do you get him back? It takes a whole offseason to do that, so we have not done that with Dylan. Dylan has had his head up, obviously he's disappointed in the performance that he had last time he played, but we're excited to see him play this week."

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